Femininity In To Kill A Mockingbird

I think that the femininity as it's portrayed in the novel, in that exact time period, would be seen as a positive or accurate portrayal of feminism. The female characters that we follow like Scout, aunt Alexandra, and Miss Maudie are all living in a world where a man’s word will almost always be taken over a woman's word. The characters all represent different takes on feminism; each character has their own view on how they believe a woman should act. Scout, almost instantly when we meet her differentiates herself from the standard rules of girlhood that are later established in the novel. The portrayal of Scout in the story is more comparable to a modern day child in the twenty first century, than to one living in the twentieth century.

While we would expect our children to be outside exploring the neighborhood and being with friends, most girls weren't expected to do that back when this story takes place. Scout defiantly breaks that code, which is shown as she partakes in afternoon activities with her brother Jem and friend Dill. This idea of girlhood puts her at odds with her aunt Alexandra, who wants to see Scout acting more like a woman. The idea that many women were like Alexandra is not to far fetched to believe. It's possible, that because she and many other women grew up in an age dominated by men, that they started using their womanhood as a way control. Alexandra is shown as being a very respectful woman, who has strict rules that she embeds onto Scout. She uses this respect as a way of getting people to recognize that fact that she is a woman who deserves respect from others, and this is her way of asserting her power. I believe that her way of going about forcing “womanhood” on Scout is very different than modern day approaches, but the way she asserts her power is very reminiscent of what we see today. For example, Alexandra is very respectful to every character she interacts with in the book, whether it be Atticus or Miss Maudie she always shows them respect. We give respect to people that we don't know or meet for the first time, as a way of producing an image of ourselves that may not necessarily be accurate but makes people think of us highly. Miss Maudie on the other hand, I believe is more accurate of the type of feminism that we encounter in contemporary times.